Hiley Website

Arnside is a village in South Cumbria. It faces the estuary of the River Kent on the north-eastern corner of Morecambe Bay,

within the Arnside and Silverdale Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty, close to Leighton Moss RSPB Reserve, but outside the National Park.

It is outside the range of Wainwright's Outlying Fells book but is a great little limestone hill with great views all round.

We were in the area today so stopped off for a walk in the sunshine.

The best bit of tarmac on the road was in the layby on the road just south of Arnside Knott.

It is just up from the turning to Arnside Tower which can be seen on the other side of the grassland.

There are several gates through into the woodland (we discover afterwards) but this one was an excellent choice.



There was a good path up through the trees . . .	. . . through a classic beech woodland.

Before the path drops down the other side of the hill

there's a signpost offering a footpath to the right, continuing the gentle climb up towards Arnside summit.

We're into limestone country with a gravel path and grassland in between the trees.

The path turns and climbs towards a rather nice viewpoint.

Someone has kindly offered a couple of basic seats where we can relax in the sunshine.

From here there's a good view north west towards Grange-over-Sands.

As we continue on up the view extends to give us a clearer view.

To the south west we look down over Silverdale village and Morecambe Bay.

At the top of the rise we divert left through the trees and find the viewpoint mentioned on the map.

A group of about twenty on a guided walk have done likewise.

The viewpoint has several explanatory signboards . . . this one looking north east over the Kent Viaduct.

Looking up we can see the railway viaduct below us.

Quite a lot of other folk have decided to visit the viewpoint too . . . this couple brought a family picnic.

The view north from that signboard is rather hazy but includes the fells around Red Screes and the Kirkstone Pass.

The black crow is also enjoying his view from the broken bough on the tree as well.

A second signboard picks out the southern Lakeland fells from Coniston round to Black Combe.

Across the way is the town of Grange-over-Sands, on the other side of the River Kent estuary.

One of the couples who were up here today mentioned that friends of theirs

were doing a sponsored walk with Cedrick Robinson across Morecambe Bay.

A pair of binoculars confirmed that the line on the sands was moving and not a breakwater

and the zoom lens picks out about five hundred people on the Bay Walk today.

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After the viewpoint we retrace our steps slightly and head up to the trig point on the summit.

On the way up we pass one of the old "Knotted Trees" that are thought to give Arnside Knott its name.

Many years ago someone must have twisted two pairs of saplings into two knots, so the trees grew up into the special shapes,

which many old Knott lovers still remember. This 1959 picture can be seen on the Trip Advisor page here

We're at the highest point and there's a view to Gait Barrows and over towards Beetham.

The one thing that's missing is the trig point.

Dylan's found it . . . in the middle of a veritable forest of young trees.

He's happy to be up there . . . but I'll help him down as there are some sharp stones surrounding the pillar.

As we leave the trig point the organised group arrive . . . led by the lady in the high-viz jacket.

The path down the other side passes this unusual new gate

and gives us a lovely view down to the long Kent railway viaduct on the west coast line.

The path back to the car now swings round clockwise, down into the mixed beech wood again.

There were some lovely mature trees of different varieties too.

In the humid shade of the woodland the moss has had chance to grow over the many stones of the old wall.

As we reached the bottom of the wood we thought we heard some wind chimes.

Perhaps someone has hung some musical pipes in the trees down here ?



As we re-join the road the sound increases . . .	. . . it turns out that some of the cattle have cow bells around their necks.

Just a short walk back to the car and our walk is done.

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After seeing othesr on the summit enjoying their lunch we though we ought to do the same.

Our route back towards home took us through the village of Beetham and past this rather nice hotel . . .

The Wheatsheaf at Beetham

A good car park and the fact that it was dog-friendly meant we could stop for lunch indoors on this hot day.

Fancy a Caesar Salad with salmon anyone ?

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As Harry is on 'light duties' at the moment

we didn't take him with us in the hot car or on the walk.

Instead he had an away-day at a friend and neighbour of ours

who volunteered to look after him while we travelled south.

On the way home we called back to Joan's to pick him up

and were invited in for a cuppa and a rather nice piece

of her home made cake . . . enjoyed whilst admiring the view of

Crummock Water and the high fells from her garden.

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